L.D. Hardas, owner and president of Awesome Products Inc., speaks during a program this morning announcing its plans to open a manufacturing plant in Mount Airy. Containers for the various cleaning supplies the company makes are pictured alongside Hardas.

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Friday was an “awesome” day for Mount Airy…………… continues on Mount Airy News

President Obama may sincerely believe that “the state of the union is strong,” but the mood in the aisles of Walmart is apparently far less sanguine.

Or so I conclude, after spending 90 minutes last night behind a two-way mirror, watching 10 “Walmart moms” sit around a conference table and lament the national condition. Granted, a focus group is by definition unscientific, and this particular focus group was…how shall I put this charitably…a tad clueless about certain policies. (Obamacare, said ill-informed Sibohan, is “socialized medicine. “You’ll be waiting five years for a hysterectomy!”). But all 10 of them voted in 2012, their votes count the same as everyone else’s votes, and research shows that Walmart moms – women with kids at home who shop at the chain at least once a month – have been a key swing voting group in the last several elections.

Walmart moms are being closely tracked by Public Opinion Strategies, a Washington Republican polling firm, and a Democratic counterpart, Momentum Analysis. They coined the term. They’ve also discovered that Walmart moms (14 percent of all voters) swung to Obama in 2008, to the Republican congressional candidates in the 2010 midterms, then back to Obama last November……………. continues on Newsworks.org

Giving help, getting help in the Midlands, Feb. 16News from The State:

GOOD NEIGHBORS

PAWMETTO LIFELINE’S Spay/Neuter Clinic will spay female cats for a special rate of $ 20 through Feb. 28. Their aim is to provide more than 300 cat sterilizations during the “Beat the Heat” program sponsored by PetSmart Charities. Spaying and neutering is safe for kittens as young as 8-10 weeks old, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. To schedule an appointment, go to http://www.pawmettolifeline.org or call (803) 465-9100; you must mention the “Beat the Heat” promotion for the discount. The clinic is at 1275 Bower Parkway.

SOUTH CAROLINA YOUTH ADVOCATE PROGRAM, a licensed nonprofit child placing agency, is looking for dedicated adults to provide safe, nurturing homes for young people in foster care. For information on becoming a foster parent, call (800) 882-5513 or email tbradley@scyap.com.

FOOD FOR THE SOUL winter shelter, 110-A. E. DeKalb St., Camden, is available for overnight stays when the nightly temperature is forecast to be 36 degrees or colder. Cots, linens and blankets are provided, as are a light…………… continues on The State

Green Your Home: How to build a safe and eco-friendly home for your familyNews from Eco Child’s Play:

Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.

Our home is our sanctuary. It is where we return to again and again for comfort, solace, rest, nourishment, etc. Whether you have children or not, your home should be a healthy place. You may not spend the majority of your woken hours there, but toxins, even while you sleep, contribute to bot…………… continues on Eco Child’s Play

Make Pillows Fluffy Again By Drying Them With A Tennis Ball – Huffington PostNews from Make Pillows Fluffy Again By Drying Them With A Tennis Ball – Huffington Post:

One thing we love most about hitting the sack is jumping into our beds and being surrounded by downy, soft pillows. But we’ve been noticing that our heads have been laying a little flat these days because our cushions have lost their spunk. Naturally we needed to find a fix for this immediately. And we came across a great tip on how to make pillows fluffy again, if they are dryer-safe, from Fun Advice.

Simply place the pillow, two (clean) tennis balls and a fabric softener sheet into a dryer on medium heat. Al…………… continues on Make Pillows Fluffy Again By Drying Them With A Tennis Ball – Huffington Post

An Organizing Tip That Will Keep Your Mail In Order – Huffington PostNews from An Organizing Tip That Will Keep Your Mail In Order – Huffington Post:

We’ve been focusing on helping you de-stress your homes so you can stop worrying and start enjoying your spaces. And one tip we offered was to create a mail organizer in the kitchen to help you keep track of important papers and bills. There are many ways to create a storage system that works for you, but Wise Bread may have found the most impressive

We’ve been doing our best to provide you with new ways to make your home a calming oasis room by room, starting with the bathroom, kitchen and living room. But what about taking the time to streamline a space that we unfortunately spend more time in than we’d l…………… continues on Huffington Post

This week I have been talking a lot to people about clove oil. It’s a popular topic after the floods, as it has a well-deserved reputation as a mould destroyer. Mostly I am asked how to use the clove oil.

Firstly it is essential (no pun intended) to use a clove oil that is 100% strength. Most commercial brands are 25% in a carrier oil base, which is unsuitable to make your cleaning product. The 25% blend is used because the other traditional use of clove oil is for treating toothache. The 25% strength is suitable for applying directly to the gums. The clove works by anaesthetising the nerve, thereby reducing the pain of the toothache. It won’t cure the cause of the toothache, but relieves pain until the problem can be fixed by a dentist.

Amelia’s Grocery Outlet, 703 Lancaster Road, Jan. 23. The front dairy counter had a temperature of 47-54 F. All products were removed. All cold foods must be kept at 41 F or colder. Service call placed for the dairy counter.

Your home has many dirty corners that cannot be cleaned without using bleaching agents. So you need to keep a stock of natural bleaching agents. You basically need to bleach when the dirt has been accumulating in a nook or place for quite some time. For example, your bathroom tiles get yellow with age. They also loose shine due to regular use of water over them.

You also need natural bleaching for washing your white clothes. White clothes often lose their brightness with time. The best bleaching agent for clothes is your table salt. Similarly there are many such kitchen ingredients you use regularly that can make great bleaching agents.

Some these things like bleaching powder or soda drinks have chemicals in them. While other kitchen ingredients like lemon and vinegar have natural bleaching properties. These are some of the best bleaching agents for cleaning your home.

Lemon: This citrus fruit is actually one of the most efficient bleaching agents available in the kitchen. The cleaning tips for tiles and kitchen sills always include lemon. The citrus acid in lemon juice cuts through oil and dirt. Apart from cleaning your home, lemon also acts as a great natural bleach for whitening your skin.

Vinegar: Just like lemon, vinegar is also sour and therefore a powerful as a bleach. You can soak…………… continues on BoldSky

Organizing Tip That Repurposes A Pringles Can Into Storage – Huffington PostNews from Organizing Tip That Repurposes A Pringles Can Into Storage – Huffington Post:

We love finding new ways to repurpose items around the house — especially when they can help us stay neat and tidy. That’s why when we came across this organizing tip from Chasing Green, we knew we had to share it with you.

Easiest Way To Dust A Ceiling Fan – Huffington PostNews from Easiest Way To Dust A Ceiling Fan – Huffington Post:

One of the most difficult household tasks is cleaning a ceiling fan. The height and awkward angles makes this job complicated, if not completely impossible — until now. Family Handyman found a really great way to dust a ceiling fan.

First, using rubber bands, secure a dryer sheet around a paint roller. Then, simply attach that roller to an extension handle. Next, wipe it back and forth along the fan blades and the sheet should catch most of the grime.

We always appreciate…………… continues on Easiest Way To Dust A Ceiling Fan – Huffington Post

Is My Memory Loss Normal? The Difference Between Forgetfulness and Early …News from Huffington Post:

I rushed the kids through breakfast, promising myself (as I do every day) that we’ll all get up 30 minutes earlier tomorrow and avoid the morning chaos. Faces, teeth, hair, socks, shoes, jackets… the never-ending school day assembly line was in full swing. But as we stepped outside ready to take our usual walk, my son complained that his leg hurt; his pants were rubbing up against a scrape he had on his thigh.

“Fine, get in the car,” I instructed the kids. I ran back inside the house to grab my keys and they piled in and buckled up, ready for the short drive around the corner to our neighborhood elementary school.

Just as I pulled up, the other minivans parted like the red sea and I squeezed my Hotyssey into a space directly across from the school — one that sat equal distance from both crosswalks. I paused a beat before yelling, “Hold on to me” and darted across the quiet street. I dropped one kid off at his gate and sent him away with a kiss and an encouraging word. I walked the other two to the other side of the school and sent them on their way with the same ritual.

As I exhaled the breath I had been holding in fo…………… continues on Huffington Post

This was what this floor is made for in a refreshner economy, which we have been in from about 2008, this was the case of the laundry category, more and more users are shifting from the premium mid-tier price points for the Value and Extreme Value price points. In fact as of little past year or so, the Value category is now growing bigger than the mid price category, which you can see on this chart and encroaching up on the premium category soon.

In fact more households, you look at actual households, more households use a Value detergent than a mid or premium price detergent and its growing, and we’ve got share results. As you can see we have just steadily every year gained a point or two of the total fair of the total laundry category. We are now almost 15%. As you will see Church & Dwight has grown over the last three years, we’ve gained 300 share points, everybody else…………… continues on Church & Dwight’s CEO Discusses Q4 2012 Results – Earnings Call Transcript – Seeking Alpha